Building the Audio Note Kit 1 SET amp...

More from Tim Smith: These small speakers are a bass-head’s dream. They are fast and rhythmic. Even with a single-ended tube amp putting out 5 watts, they have floor-rattling bass. They handle Steve Swallow’s electric bass with aplomb; Brian Ritchie’s bass on “Please Do Not Go” (Violent Femmes, self-titled LP, Slash Records) has never sounded so taut, so dry, so textured, so nuanced, so visceral. I listened through the Audio Research LS17 and Wyred4Sound SX-1000 monos. It was breathtaking, among the very best recorded sound I have heard–anywhere, anytime. I had the same reaction when I listened to The Jimmy Giuffre 4′s LP “Quasar.” This is an eclectic, electric, spacy, funkadelic jazz recording that has languished in obscurity for too long. It deserves to be seen on par with Herbie Hancock’s classics “Mwandishi” and “Sextant.”

And just a little more from Tim Smith: The M-Lores are so good, I almost sold my Harbeth Compact 7s. The 7s, including their dedicated Skylan stands, cost more than four times as much as the M-Lores. In some ways (bass, the ability to play loud, dynamic swings), the M-Lores are better; in most ways, it’s a tie. For a good month after receiving my Lores, I was under the spell of Tektonite for many a night, and my Harbeths stood lonely in the corner of my man cave. I keep the Harbeths because they nail vocals and the sweet tone of a guitar like no other speaker I know.

Three cheers for Tekton Design for bringing a slice of the high end within reach of the majority of the population. As other reviewers have noted, the cost of the parts that go into this speaker, were they purchased straight off the shelf, would total over one-half the retail price. Not only are you avoiding lining the pockets of middlemen when you buy straight from Tekton Design; you are not being fleeced by the owner/designer either. These are fair prices. There cannot be much mark-up here. For this reason, and due to its addictive musicality, the M-Lore is surely one of the best buys in audio. Highly recommended.

Yeah, me too, agree completely! Take the sixty (60) day trial. M-Lore.

I agree with Grannyring up to a point. I feel whatever speaker you own and if you really like it; one has to find the right amp to match with it. I have owned many push pull tube amps, low and high power and have found that good single ended amps appear to be more natural and less processed than push pull. If Rebbi loves the DeCapo and single ended you can just find a parallel single ended that puts out 30 to 100 watts that will drive that speaker. Yes they are more pricey but you have to decide on your priorities. Another example is that a speaker may present a load that goes down to 2 ohms in the 40 to 200hz range. This would put a strain on any tube amp push pull or not. In this case a good solid state amp would drive the speaker better in that upper bass range. The other alternative would be to place a great subwoofer that has servo control of the woofer and room correction with that speaker and a single ended and get the best out of both worlds. There are many ways to skin the cat. Personally once I was hit by the single ended bug I can't look back. I feel the amp is just as important as the speaker for the right magic. Single ended does things that I have never heard with SS, OTL, and Push Pull and I have heard almost everything out there. I think Rebbi is going to have to make up his own mind on whether to go the speaker route or to upgrade his amp. I would not go the push pull route. Good luck Rebbi

Read: Magnepans (3.7) AND TEKTON MEET PASS LABS, ODYSSEY, JOB, MERRILL, RED WINE AUDIO, FIRST WATT AND VITUS AUDIO: From Confessions of a Part-Time Audiophile

Yeah, according to the article, Tekton (Pendragon and Seas) can go head-to-head, toe-to-toe with about any speaker you may like using amps wearing big-boy pants.

Bottom line, according to Scott Hull: they are excellent.

Rebbi,
If it was me, I'd keep your magnificent AN Kit 1 and DeCapo's. Do you really miss Tecno Synth bass in most of your listening? I'm usually happy with speakers that can capture the low E-string on a bass guitar. In your small room most Rock, classical, Jazz, voices, etc. should be excellent with terrific tone, timbre, naturalness, and all the other attributes of 300B sound. Why invest/spend huge amounts to capture synth bass techno sound at the expense of your other 98% listening?

On another note, after reading all of this thread, my wife exclaimed, I am still building the AN amp, I love the sound of the 300B tube. So, there you have it, I'm one lucky dude. Coincident Dynamo in my office, soon to be Coincident 300B in my dedicated listening room and AN Kit-1 in the living room. Retirement is going to be fun.